THE PRESIDENT: Listen, thank you all for coming. Thanks for
coming. Please be seated. So Hoekstra said, get over here.
(Applause.) He said, come to Muskegon. I said, okay, see if you can
get some people to show up. (Applause.)

Listen, thanks for coming. I'm here asking for the vote.
(Applause.) I'm here to tell you I have a reason to ask for the vote.
And we're going to do it a little differently today. I'm going to talk
to some of our fellow citizens about health care, that's what I really
want to spend some time on. I'm also going to talk about making
America a safer place, making the world a safer place. (Applause.)

Before we get started on issues that matter to the future of
everybody in this country, there's an issue that matters to me, and
that is, I hope I can also count on your help in order to win this
election. (Applause.) That means registering people to vote.
(Applause.) Step one is to remind your friends and neighbors that we
have an obligation in a free society to participate. So anybody who is
18 years old who hasn't registered -- register. You have an
obligation.

And step two is once we register people to vote, is to get them to
vote. And step three is when you get them headed into the polls,
remind them America will be a safer place, a stronger place and a
better place when you put Dick Cheney and me back into office.
(Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
(Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Perhaps the most -- I'm ready for
four more years, and perhaps the most important reason to give us four
more years is so that Laura will be First Lady for four more years.
(Applause.) So I said, will you marry me? She said, fine. She was a
public school librarian in Texas. She said, yes, I'll marry you --
just so long as I don't have to give any political speeches.
(Laughter.) Well, fortunately, that's a promise she didn't hold me
to. People got to see her in New York City. She gave a fabulous
speech. (Applause.) And the reason why is because she's a genuine,
kind, compassionate person who is a great mom, a great wife. I love
her dearly. And she sends her very best. (Applause.) She's out
campaigning today.

I want to thank my friend, Peter Hoekstra. He is a solid citizen
and a very fine member of the United States Congress. (Applause.) He
is -- and Diane, thanks for coming -- he is a highly respected member
of Congress. He is now going to be in charge of the House Select
Committee on Intelligence. I look forward to working with him to
strengthen our intelligence-gathering capabilities so that we can do as
good a job as possible about protecting our fellow citizens. Peter
understands that the world changed on September the 11th. He
understands we have a solemn duty in America to do everything we can to
protect you. And I look forward to working with you, Pete. It's a
great honor that you've been selected. (Applause.)

I want to thank all the grassroots activists. Those are the unsung
heroes who put up the signs and make the phone calls and do all the
hard work. I want to thank you for what you have done; I want to thank
you for what you're going to do --(laughter) -- over the next couple of
weeks. You know, there's just no doubt in my mind that, with your
help, we're going to carry Michigan and win the country. (Applause.)

Listen, most people in America agree with my philosophy that the
role of government is to help people realize their dreams, not to try
to run their lives. The role of government is to say, what can we do
to help you, not tell you what to do. And that's the fundamental
difference of opinion in this campaign.

One of the things I'm going to spend a lot of time talking about in
this race is that I understand the world we live in has changed. And
the fundamental systems of government must change with a changing
world. People say, what do you mean? Well, think about the work
force. When our dads and granddads were in the work force, they
generally were working for one company, one career, had one pension
plan, one health care plan. Today, the work force has changed. A lot
of people have more than one job and more than one career. In other
words, people are changing. Life is moving quite quickly.

The other most massive change in the work force has been women.
Women who used to stay at home are now not only working inside the
house, are working outside the house. And, yet, the government systems
haven't reflected this change. The pension plans were designed for
yesterday. They need to be designed for tomorrow. If you're a senior
citizen, you don't have to worry about Social Security. If you're a
baby boomer, you don't have to worry about Social Security. And by the
way, you'll hear the same rhetoric you hear every campaign, believe me,
you know. Oh, don't worry, they're going to take away your Social
Security check. It is the most tired, pathetic way to campaign for the
presidency. So you don't have to worry about that. (Applause.)

And baby boomers are fine. We're in good shape, you know. The
people who aren't in good shape are the children and grandchildren in
this country, because there's a lot fewer payer-inners than there are
recipients when it comes to Social Security checks. I think we need to
think differently for young folks when it comes to pension plans, and
by that I mean younger folks ought to be able to take some of their own
taxes and set aside a personal savings account. (Applause.)

When you hear me talk about changing systems to help people, this
is a -- this will help people when they have their own personal savings
accounts which will enable them to actually receive Social Security
benefits.

The worker training programs were designed for yesterday. They
need to be designed for tomorrow. That's why I'm such a big backer in
community colleges. That's why I believe we ought to promote a
lifetime of learning for workers. The jobs change in America.
Sometimes the skill sets don't change with them. In order to make sure
people can work and realize their dreams, the job training programs
must adjust to a changing economy.

We're going to talk about health care. It needs to be changed and
modernized. It needs to reflect the world in which we live.

The tax code needs to be changed. (Applause.) It's complicated --
it's a complicated mess, is what it is. Americans spend about 6
billion hours filling out the taxes. That's a lot of time and a lot of
headache. The tax code is full of special interest loopholes. In a
second term I'm going to work with both Republicans and Democrats to
simplify the tax code, to make it more fair. This will not only help
our economy grow, it'll help the American worker, it'll help the
American family. So we're going to simplify the tax code. (Applause.)

What I'm telling you is, I recognize the changing world in which we
live, and the proper role of the government is to change the systems of
government that were designed for yesterday, so that they reflect
tomorrow. In order to make sure -- by the way, one of the biggest
changes we have in America is the fact that our workers are more
productive than ever. There have been high productivity increases, and
that's great for the country. People say, what do you mean by
productivity increases? It means you've gone from a shovel to a -- you
know, to a mechanized digger, or from a manual typewriter to a
computer, that's what it means, when you come more productive.

And, yet, a more productive work force requires our economy to have
sustained growth in order for people to find work. If the same worker
can -- if one worker can double the output of the past, it means the
economy has to grow faster in order to make sure people can find work,
if they're not working. That's what that means. And, therefore, I put
out a plan to make sure the economy that we have today is even stronger
tomorrow.

Now, when you're out gathering the vote, remind people we've been
through a lot. Think about what this economy has been through. When
we got in there, the market had already been declining for about five
months. In other words, there was something fragile about the
economy. And then we had a recession. The first three-quarters of my
presidency were declared recession because economic growth was
negative. In other words, we checked in to serve the American people,
and the next thing we know is we've got a recession handed to us. And
then we had some corporate scandals, and that affected the psychology
of the country. Make no mistake about it: When somebody doesn't tell
the truth in the corporate world, it affects economic growth. There
should be no question in anybody's mind today that we will not tolerate
dishonesty in the boardrooms of America. (Applause.)

And then September the 11th came and it hurt us. I'm going to talk
a little bit later on what it meant, in terms of working to secure the
homeland. There's some interesting -- not "interesting," really
important lessons from that day.

But they estimate we lost a million jobs in the three months after
September the 11th. And, yet, if you think about it, we've overcome
those obstacles. This economy of ours is strong, and it's getting
stronger. (Applause.) And the fundamental question -- I mean, the
national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent. That's lower than the
average of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. (Applause.) Now, there are
pockets in your state where the recovery is lagging behind the national
average, I understand that. But that means we ought to put good
policies in place and keep them in place, as opposed to resorting to
the old, tired, you know, government approach.

So I want to talk to you about how we're going to keep the economy
growing. And one of the key aspects is to make sure the health care
system works. Before we get to the health care system, let me -- here
are some ideas that the American people need to hear. In order to make
sure the job base expands in America, we need an energy policy that
makes us less dependent on foreign sources of energy. (Applause.) I
mean, it's going to be hard to sustain economic growth if we stay
hooked. And we need to modernize our electricity grid, as well. I
submitted a plan to the United States Congress over two years ago, and
it's stuck. It's a plan that encourages conservation. It's a plan
that recognizes technology is going to change much of the energy
debate. In other words, hopefully within a decade, people will be
driving hydrogen-powered automobiles. That makes sense. (Applause.)

You know, we've got great research being done on clean coal
technology, so we can use an available resource. We want people -- and
one of -- I think a great opportunity for America is that someday
they're going to walk in and say, here's the crop report, Mr.
President, we're growing more corn than ever, and now were less
dependent on foreign sources of energy. We ought to be using ethanol
and biodiesel as ways to -- as ways to diversify our energy supply.
(Applause.)

I think we ought to be using technology to expand and advance
nuclear power. We ought to be wise about how we diversify our energy
supplies and encourage energy conservation. In order to keep this
economy growing, we put forth a plan that Congress must pass in order
to make us less dependent on foreign sources of energy.

In order to make sure the economy grows, we've got to continue to
open up markets. There's a lot of farmers in this part of the world,
the farm economy is strong here -- strong in Michigan and it's strong
around the world. One of the reasons why is because we're selling U.S.
product in other markets -- that's one of the reasons why. Ask your
corn growers, ask the people who are growing soy beans what it's like
to be able to sell product grown here in Michigan, or elsewhere in
America, overseas. And, listen, we've opened up our markets and it's
good for you we have. Here's the way the economy works: If you've got
more choices to choose from, you're likely to get the product you want
at a better price and higher quality. That's how it works. My message
to places like China is, you treat us the way we treat you -- because
we can compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere, so long as the rules
are fair. (Applause.)

One of the reasons we overcame the obstacles, one of the reasons
this economy is growing is because of well-timed tax cuts. I mean,
when you've got more money in your pocket, it means that your going to
demand an additional good or a service. And when you demand an
additional good or a service, somebody is going to have to produce it.
And when somebody produces it, it means somebody is more likely to find
work.

One of the central tenets of that tax relief was, we're helping our
small business owners. Do you realize 90 percent of the small business
owners in America pay individual income taxes?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)

THE PRESIDENT: Good, well, there you are. Then you understand
what tax relief means. (Laughter and applause.) When you give -- 70
percent of the new jobs in America are created by small businesses, and
when you provide tax relief for small businesses, it means our economy
is growing. That's what's happening here in America. (Applause.)

And so here's the thing, we've got to do something about these
frivolous lawsuits that are making it hard for small businesses to stay
in business. (Applause.) We've got to reduce regulations on small
businesses so they're able to hire. And we must not raise taxes. In
order to keep this economy growing, in order to make sure that jobs are
available -- not only this year, but in the out years -- we've got to
keep your taxes low. And that's an issue in this campaign. It's an
issue.

I'm running against a fellow who has proposed over $2 trillion of
new federal spending. That's a lot. And so they said, well, how are
you going to pay for it? He said, oh, don't worry, I'm just going to
tax the rich. Now, let me -- a couple of things wrong with that. One
is, you can't tax the rich enough to pay for over $2 trillion of new
money. In other words, there's the tax gap. Guess who's going to get
stuck? Yes. Don't worry, we're not going to let him stick you,
because we're going to win. (Applause.)

Hold on a second. A couple of other things. Thank you all. We've
got a lot of work to do here, though. (Laughter.) I appreciate the
cheering.

Secondly, if you run up the top two brackets on the individual
income taxes, you're taxing about a million small businesses, is what
you're doing. Now, why in the heck would you want to tax small
businesses just as this economy is beginning to grow? If 70 percent of
the new jobs are -- in America, are created by small businesses, why
would you want to tax the job creators? You wouldn't.

Thirdly, you've heard the rhetoric, right, tax the rich? We've
heard that before. The rich hire accountants and lawyers for a
reason. (Laughter.) And you get stuck with the bill. Raising taxes
is wrong right now for this economy, and we're not going to let him get
away with it. We are going to win. (Applause.) Taxes is a big issue
in this campaign. I intend to make it an issue all across the
country. (Applause.)

Let me talk about health care. We're going to talk about health
care now. And I've asked some folks to come and explain to you some of
the reasons why our policy makes sense. You've probably already heard
enough from me already for one day.

I have a practical common-sense plan to make health care available
and affordable, and that's important; a practical way to make sure
health care is available and affordable, and a way to make sure good
doctors keep practicing medicine. (Applause.)

I believe health care decisions should be made by doctors and
patient, not by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. (Applause.) We have a
difference of opinion in this campaign. I'm running against a fellow
who has got a massive, complicated blueprint to have our government
take over the decision-making in health care.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: His plan, if you listen carefully to what he says,
would have bureaucrats become the decision-makers, and that would be
wrong for America. As well, today, there's a independent study, which
has been released, which says that his plan would cost the taxpayers
$1.5 trillion in new government spending. Not only is his plan going
to increase the power of bureaucrats in your lives, but he can't pay
for it unless he raises your taxes.

Today, we're going to talk about a difference of opinion. It
starts with -- you know, what would you expect from a Senator from
Massachusetts? (Laughter and applause.) That's what you would expect
-- a government take-over of health care with an enormous price tag.
We're going to talk about a way to make sure health care is available
and affordable, and start with Medicare. You might remember the old
Medicare debates. They were called, "Mediscare," because people
wouldn't dare talk about changing them. I believe we have a duty to
our seniors. I believe we have a moral obligation to make sure health
care is available and affordable to our seniors. (Applause.)

Look, I went up to Washington to fix problems. You know, I said,
if I'm fortunate enough to win -- this is what I said in 2000 -- I'm
going up to address problems, not pass them on to future generations
and future Presidents. My style is to say, here's a problem, let's
come together to fix it. We had a problem in Medicare. And the
problem was that medicine was modernizing and Medicare wasn't. People
say, what do you mean by that? Well, Medicare would pay for, you know,
$100,000, say, for heart surgery, but wouldn't pay for the prescription
drugs to prevent the heart surgery from being needed in the first
place. That didn't make any sense. (Applause.) It didn't make any
sense for our seniors, it didn't make any sense for the taxpayers.

And so we modernized Medicare. Listen, seniors should get a
prescription drug card today, it will help you with your cost of
drugs. Starting in 2005, we'll have preventative care and screenings
for our seniors as a part of Medicare. (Applause.) That makes sense.
You hear me say I've got a commonsense, practical plan -- it's
practical to have seniors tested early so we can diagnose problems
before it's too late. It's practical for seniors to be given
preventative screening in Medicare, and in 2006, prescription drugs
will be available for senior citizens in Medicare. We have
strengthened Medicare, and it's good for our seniors we have done so.
(Applause.)

To make health care available and affordable, we've got to do
something about the junk lawsuits that are running up the cost of
medicine. (Applause.) And those junk lawsuits are running good docs
out of practice. If the goal is an available and affordable health
care, we've got to do something about lawsuits. Make no mistake about
it, these lawsuits are running up your cost of medicine. You ask small
business owners, you ask docs what it's like to practice in a litigious
society -- that means there's a lot of lawsuits. (Laughter.) I'm not
even a lawyer and I know the word "litigious." (Laughter and
applause.)

And so -- people say, well, that was a local issue. No, it's not a
local issue when the cost of medicine is skyrocketing or the cost of
health care is skyrocketing because of the defensive medicine being
practiced by docs, so if they get sued they're able to have a good case
in the courthouse. And it costs the taxpayers about $28 billion a year
for docs to practice medicine defensively.

And, therefore, I went to Congress and said, this is a national
problem, it requires a national solution. We need medical liability
reform. Of course, it's stuck in the United States Senate. It came
out of the House, and I want to thank Pete for his support. It's stuck
in the Senate because the trial lawyers are powerful, they are a
powerful special interest, they stand in the way of good medical
liability reform. This a big difference in this campaign. I like to
remind people you can't be pro-doctor or pro-patient and pro-trial
lawyer at the same time. You have to choose. (Applause.)

My opponent made his choice, and he put him on the ticket.
(Applause.) I made my choice: I'm standing with the docs and
patients; I am for medical liability reform now. (Applause.)

There's more to do to make health care available and affordable.
We've got to modernize the health care information. I believe that
within the next 10 years we can have electronic health records, with
safeguards for your privacy, which will cut down on the administrative
costs of health. We can save a lot of money by using technology to
modernize health care.

In order to make sure that health care is available, we need to
expand the government insurance program for children. In other words,
it exists, but many children are not using it. We've got a billion
dollars available in the budget to encourage families to take advantage
of government-sponsored health care for children, for low-income
children. It makes sense to make sure that the programs are fully
utilized in every aspect of our -- in every corner of our country.

In order to make sure health care is available, we need to expand
community health centers. Tom Lufkin is with us, we're about to talk
about community health centers. (Applause.) I made a promise, by the
way, when I was running. I said, these things make sense for
low-income Americans, to have a place to get preventative care; it's
better that they get care in a community center, rather than an
emergency room in a hospital. I think it's good use of taxpayer's
money to expand these, and we're doing it, we're fulfilling the promise
I made in the 2000 campaign. (Applause.) I made a further pledge: I
think every poor county in America community health center.

Tell us what they are, Tom. Thanks for coming. (Applause.)

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: Appreciate that. Thanks. See, I believe
government ought to help people who can't help themselves. And the
idea is to help people so they can help themselves -- but there are
some who just can't, some who are stuck, some who are poor. In the
land of plenty, there are pockets of poverty, we've got to understand
that. And the idea is to make sure that preventative health care is
available through community health centers.

I want to thank you for your compassion. An interesting point he
said was these health centers spawn other acts of generosity in
communities -- people see that they're up and available, and other
people who have got good hearts, who want to love their neighbor like
they'd like to be loved themselves step up and participate in helping
those who hurt, in helping those who need help.

And so one way to make sure health care is available is to expand
community health centers throughout the country. And that's what we're
doing. I want to thank you for coming, Tom.

Another way to make sure health care is affordable and available is
to help small businesses with health care. Now, here's the problem for
small businesses: they go out and bid in the current system and they
don't have a significant pool of people to spread risk. That's the
problem. They're in the midst of trying to provide health care in
their businesses and they go out and try to get a bid for health care,
and they're kind of a little, stand-alone entity. Now, big companies
are able to pool risk because of their size. We believe in order to
make sure health care is available and affordable, that little
companies ought to be able to bind -- be bound together, share risk, so
they can get the same discounts that big companies get. (Applause.)

David. David Pray. I was looking for you, and finally found you.
(Laughter.) Tell us what you do.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: Good, that's a good sign, isn't it? Upbeat guy.
Small company, how many employees?

MR. PRAY: We have 10 employees.

THE PRESIDENT: Ten, that's small. That's the definition of a
small business. And so he was telling me aboard Air Force One there
that he has some problems with health care.

MR. PRAY: Well, we've been -- through Associated Builders and
Contractors, we have been in a state-wide pool for quite some time.
And for a lot of years, we enjoyed about a 10 to 15 percent cost
advantage over being -- over going out and finding single, affordable
policies elsewhere.

THE PRESIDENT: So they got a plan here in Michigan where you can
pool together. It's a nice concept. However?

MR. PRAY: However, last year, the state of Michigan passed
legislation called Small Group Health Care Reform which, instead of now
being able to pool the risk over 400 member companies, premiums are now
calculated based on claims history. So we don't have the advantage of
pooling anymore. And the immediate effect for our company was a 29
percent increase in our premiums. And bear in mind that we, as a
company, feel a duty to provide the medical and dental care, not only
for the employee, himself, but for his dependents. We fund 100 percent
of that cost.

THE PRESIDENT: So here's what we're talking about. Listen, this
guy's a responsible guy, you know. He says, I've got a duty as a
employer of people to do the best I can do. The problem is the system
is so designed that he can't really do his job because he is unable to
pool risk. See, the more people you have in the risk pool, the lower
the cost of health insurance. That's just how it works.

And so what we're suggesting is, is that David be able to combine
with companies, not only in Michigan, but nationwide. I mean, why
shouldn't a guy building commercial construction in Texas not be able
to put his employees in the same pool as David? The reason why is
because the health systems were designed for the past. The current
health care system is stuck in the past, as far as I'm concerned.

A national plan -- in other words, people being able to bind
together nationally would mean that a lot of mandates that now affect
the cost of health care would not be -- would not be imposed upon these
small businesses, and it means that more people could bind together.
People resist this because they like the system the way it is. What
we're interested in is, we don't like the way it is. We're interested
in change. Government must be willing to change with the times.
Association health plans mean we're willing to change with the times to
help small employers be able to provide good health insurance for their
workers. (Applause.)

Another way -- as you can see, I've got a strategy to make sure
health care is available and affordable without the federal government
making the decisions for you. See, we've said, we're going to take
care of those who can't help themselves, we're going to make sure small
businesses are able to afford insurance, just like big businesses can
do, and now, I want to talk about a very interesting idea called health
savings accounts. This is a different approach to health care, which
will mean that the patient and doctor are essential to the
decision-making process, and helps us hold down the cost of health
care. Health savings accounts are an innovative idea that became the
law of the land as a result of the Medicare bill I signed. And I want
-- I want some people to describe. Matt, are you willing to describe
what it means?

MR. VENEMA: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, don't worry about all the cameras.
(Laughter.)

MR. VENEMA: All right, all right. I'll try to forget about
those.

THE PRESIDENT: First, start with the name of the company and why
you're even involved.

MR. VENEMA: The name of our company is All-Flo Plumbing, LLC.
We're a plumbing contractor in the Grand Rapids and West Michigan
region. We were struggling under the burden of our health care.

THE PRESIDENT: How many people, sorry?

MR. VENEMA: Fourteen employees, 12 full-time.

THE PRESIDENT: Small business, thousands of small businesses just
like his all over the world, all over the country, all over America.
(Applause.) The heart and soul of the American economy are these small
business owners. Sorry. Giving you time to warm up. (Laughter.)

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: Hold on a minute. Sorry. You've got to make sure
the people understand what we're talking about. A lot of times, you
use initials in government. (Laughter.) HSA. Okay, here it is.

So you buy a high deductible --

MR. VENEMA: High deductible health policy.

THE PRESIDENT: -- health policy to cover for major medical costs,
right?

MR. VENEMA: Correct. Correct.

THE PRESIDENT: So, for example, if you're a family -- I've said,
this company, he'll tell you what his is, I think it's a zero --

MR. VENEMA: Pardon me?

THE PRESIDENT: What is your deductible in your --

MR. VENEMA: It's $3,500 for a family plan.

THE PRESIDENT: So above $3,500, the insurance company will take
care of the costs.

MR. VENEMA: Absolutely.

THE PRESIDENT: And then so what happens between zero and $3,500?

MR. VENEMA: As the employer, we took most of the portion of our
savings and funded the HSA plans for each individual employee.

THE PRESIDENT: So the company is now putting in the money to cover
routine medical expenses from zero to $3,500. They're able to put it
in tax-free, they're able to rollover the money tax-free, and they're
able to take the money out of the HSA tax-free.

MR. VENEMA: Yes, it's a nice benefit for the individual employee.
If they happen to have a good health situation, they get a tax-free
savings account. If something goes wrong, they're still covered. And
my wife and I gave this a good test run last year because we had a
premature baby, and $20,000 in health bills at the hospital, and it
worked like a charm. So we're very happy with this plan.

THE PRESIDENT: Let's make sure we understand here. This is --
we're trying to simplify what sounds like a complex issue. And zero to
$3,500, you pay -- "you" being the company and the employee, depending
upon the arrangement. Now, if you spend $2,000 in the year, $1,500 of
that $3,500 that's in your account rolls over for the next year. And
that's your money. And it's tax-free, it rolls over. So you build up
a health savings account over time. (Applause.)

Now, think about a system, by the way that provides an incentive
for you to make good choices with your life. If you save that money by
-- because you're healthier, that may cause you to go out and walk 20
minutes a day. No fooling. In other words, the system all of a sudden
says, you're in charge. You, the employee, or, you, the patient,
you're in

charge of your decisions, as opposed to somebody far away making
decisions whether or not you deserve this or not through your insurance
plan, you're the person in charge. And there's a tax incentive for you
to make right decisions.

All right, any savings?

MR. VENEMA: Yes, actually when we switched over, the premium
savings have been phenomenal. Our total group expenditure right now
for health insurance, including what we contribute to everyone's HSAs,
is $38,500 a year, approximately. If we were still under our previous
conventional plan, it would be about $81,000 a year. So we're talking
about a 52 percent savings for our group. And we've been very excited
about that. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: These work. I'm telling you, they work. They make
a lot of sense. (Applause.) Health care is more affordable under
health savings accounts, and health care is more manageable because the
decision-making is between the patient and the doc. And it's really
important for people to understand that. This stands in contrast to a
system where the federal government is going to say, oh, here's what's
going to happen here. We're going to move people from private health
insurance to expanded Medicaid, for example. You don't want the
government making decisions on your behalf when it comes to health
care. And this is one of the fundamental philosophical differences in
this campaign, is who do you trust? We trust the people. My opponent
trusts the government to make decisions when it comes to health care.

THE PRESIDENT: It's an interesting twist. (Laughter.) You're not
the first person in America, by the way -- (laughter an applause.) Go
ahead. Would you care to clarify why you were mad at me? (Laughter.)

MR. GLUPKER: I can do that --

THE PRESIDENT: -- a fellow like me, sitting here.

MR. GLUPKER: I'm just a little disappointed that it wasn't
available to me 30 and 35 years ago, when I was a young family, you
know? Because then that account would have a lot more in it than it
does today.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see, explain to people -- you've got an
account up and running. And you've used it?

MR. GLUPKER: I've used it, and the interesting thing is, when we
changed over --

THE PRESIDENT: They work for the same company, by the way.

MR. GLUPKER: Yes. We were able to keep our same doctors, which
was interesting. And the other thing is, because it's our money, when
we go shopping for prescription drugs and stuff, we shop, because why
pay $100 for that prescription when you can go down the street and only
pay $80?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. See, that's a very interesting point, isn't
it? There is a marketplace in America if consumers are empowered to
have choice. That's what we're talking about here. We go shop. The
old system, when the government is involved, they don't shop. They
dictate. Here, consumers shop. It's your money. You're in charge of
your money. In this case, the company puts a lot of money in there
that you call your own money. It's part of the -- it's part of how
they make sure the labor relations are good inside this little company,
is they contribute to the health savings account. And he's out
shopping.

People ask me about prescription drugs a lot. Let me -- a couple
of points I want to talk to you about. And one -- one way to make sure
that prescription drug costs are reasonable is to encourage people to
go into the marketplace and to provide more information to people so
that they're not necessarily buying a brand drug when the generic is
available. Generics are a lot cheaper than brand drugs, but
nevertheless, they do the same thing.

Secondly, we've got to move generic drugs quicker to the market.
That's important for us to do, and we've got plans to do so.
(Applause.) As a matter of fact, the Medicare bill helps do that.
There's a lot of stalling tactics sometimes in the industry, where they
say, we've got a new add-on that needs to be -- need to extend the
protection period for our brand drug. Well, we're cutting through all
that. We're saying, here's a reasonable period of time for you to
recoup your investment, and generics are going to move quicker.

I'm asked a lot about importation of drugs. It's an interesting
idea. But, remember, my job is to protect you as best I can. That's
the role of the government. And what we don't want to do is have a
system where it sounds like a pharmaceutical may be coming in from
Canada, but, in fact, it is manufactured in another country. I suspect
the consumers of this country, while it sounds good that these may be
able to help us on price of drugs if they come in from Canada -- before
I'll allow that to happen, I'm going to make sure that you're safe.
Because all you need to do is get a batch of drugs manufactured
elsewhere that sounds like they're legitimate, and get sick, and then
you're going to be wondering, where were the people, why weren't they
doing their jobs of protecting consumer safety? And so I'm interested
in knowing whether or not we can make sure you're safe. That's a duty
we have in the federal government. (Applause.)

Seems like to me, the best way to make sure that drug costs are
reasonable is encourage the consumer to be a pricer in the market and
to speed up generics. They say we'll save $35 billion over 10 years by
speeding up the generic drugs to the marketplace -- what we're doing.

Anyway, I hope you've got a better sense of where I intend to take
health care. It's a practical way to make sure health care is
available and affordable. (Applause.)

And it's a comprehensive plan. We've thought through this very
carefully. It's commonsensical. In other words, it makes sense to do
it this way, because the alternative is, in my solemn judgment, not
right for the American people. Having the federal government run your
business and health care is -- would be -- would be costly, it would
lead to rationing of health care, it would mean that you're not in
charge of your decisions -- which is the exact opposite philosophy we
hold.

Now, let me talk to you about making America a safer place, and the
world a safer place. A couple of things I want to share with you.
One, it's important never to forget the lessons of September the 11th,
and I'm not going to forget them. I'm not going to forget them.

The first lesson is, the enemy we face is cold-blooded and they
have no conscience; that you cannot negotiate with these people, in
other words. You cannot hope for the best from them. You cannot hope
they'll change their ways. See, these are people who profess, you
know, Islam -- they've hijacked Islam and they've substituted the
peaceful nature of Islam with an ideology of hate. And they used
terrorism as a tool to shake our will, to shake the conscience of the
free world. And so the only way to deal with them is to stay on the
offense, is to chase them down overseas so we don't have to face them
here at home, and we will. (Applause.)

And it's important -- okay, if you'll all hold on -- thank you.
I've got a little more work to do, though. Got some things on my mind
--

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, we'll have a chance to do a little "four more
year" thing in a minute. (Laughter.) I've got to tell you what's on
my mind. I want you to know I have a reason for running again. I've
got a plan to make this world a safer place, and the country a more
hopeful place. That's why I'm running. (Applause.)

See, we've done a lot in this administration, but the only reason
to look backwards is to best determine who to lead us forward. And
that's what I'm talking about here. I just want you to know I have a
plan and a reason for running, so that you can go out and tell your
friends and neighbors: let's put him back in there; he's got some good
ideas; he understands what he's doing when it comes to making sure this
economy continues to grow, making sure that families are strong, making
sure that the institutions and systems are changed in order to help the
American people; and he's got a plan and a vision to make this world a
safer place. And that's what I'm here to tell you.

First, I know the nature of the enemy. It means we must be
relentless and unyielding. (Applause.) Secondly -- and we must use
all tools at our disposal. That's why I'm looking forward to working
with Peter, to make sure the intelligence system -- see, we were
chasing down people who hide in caves, people who kind of lurk in the
dark corners of cities around the world. And, therefore, we need good
intelligence, and we're working with friends and allies in order to
share intelligence. You know, people -- we'll use law enforcement.
We're darn sure going to use our United States military, too, to
protect the American people. (Applause.) And that's why it's
important for our military to be, you know, transformed, to meet the
threats of the 21st century.

Secondly, since it's a different kind of war, in order to make sure
America is safer, I laid out a new doctrine that said if you harbor a
terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorist. Now, when the
American President says something, he better mean it. (Applause.)
When the American President says something, he's got to speak in a way
that's easy for people to understand and mean what he says. I meant
what I said when I said to the Taliban, if you harbor a terrorist, like
al Qaeda, you're just as guilty as they are. They ignored what we
said. And that's why they're no longer in power. (Applause.) In
other words, we said, if you continue doing what you're doing, you're
not going to be in power. And as a result of a great United States
military, and as a result of brave souls, Afghanistan has been
liberated from a barbaric group of people. And we're safer for it.
(Applause.)

Al Qaeda can no longer train because we upheld doctrine. Remember,
they were training thousands of people in Afghanistan, so they could
put these terrorist cells around the world. Way before September the
11th, they were training in Afghanistan, plotting and planning. You
know, somebody said, well, they -- by staying on the offense, you're
creating more enemy. I strongly disagree with that sentiment. I
strongly disagree. (Applause.) They were planning -- they were
plotting and planning way before September the 11th. No, by staying on
the offense, we're reducing the enemy. By keeping the pressure on
them, we're reducing the enemy and making America more secure. And by
upholding doctrine, we're making America more secure, as well.

Now, think about Afghanistan for a second. Not only is the Taliban
out, and al Qaeda had lost a safe haven, but people are free in that
country, and that matters to America. It should. Because free
societies promote peace. Free societies become allies when it comes to
fighting off the ideologues of hate.

You know, it just wasn't all that long ago -- it was three years
ago that young girls weren't allowed to go to school -- many young
girls -- most young girls weren't allowed to go to school in
Afghanistan. That's backwards, see? When you've got people running a
country that is so -- so clouded in their vision that they wouldn't let
young girls go to school, is a society that would breed, you can
imagine, incredible resentment. It's a hopeless society. That's how
terrorists are able to recruit, because there's no hope. Freedom -- a
free society is one that promotes hope. You know, their moms would be
drug out in the public square and whipped. And that matters to
America, because we believe in human dignity. We believe -- we believe
in the value of every human being. That's why we support a culture of
life, because we believe in life. (applause.)

Think about this, tell your friends and neighbors this amazing
statistic when it comes to Afghanistan -- at least I think it's
amazing. But three years ago, these people lived in a dark world.
Today, there's light and freedom is -- freedom is moving rapidly to
that country to the extent that 10 million citizens, 41 percent of whom
are women, are registered to vote in the presidential elections that
will be taking place next month. Think about that. Amazing, isn't it?
(Applause.)

I have -- I can't remember all the people that wrote and opined
about what it was like going into Afghanistan back then. I suspect
some probably said that these people can't be free; You know, they
really don't want to be free. Freedom is powerful. And I'm just
guessing that there were some people that were pessimistic about the
country's dream of having a democracy there in Afghanistan. But 10
million people -- that wasn't all that long ago that women were pulled
off a bus by the Taliban and murdered because they were involved in the
election process.

Third lesson is, when we see a threat, we must deal with it before
it fully materializes. In other words, one of the lessons of September
the 11th is that oceans no longer protect us from harm's way. It used
to be, prior to September the 11th, that if we saw a threat, we could
deal with it or not deal with it because we never dreamt it would come
home to hurt us if we saw something materializing overseas.
Policymakers in the country could say, well, that makes sense to deal
with that, or, we can let that one go, because it can't possibly -- it
can't possibly hurt us. That's what we thought. And history had
taught us that. I can understand why everybody felt that way. But
September the 11th changed that equation.

And, therefore, when we see a threat, this country must deal with
that threat so it doesn't come home to harm us. And I saw a threat in
Saddam Hussein. The reason I saw a threat in Saddam Hussein is because
I was looking at intelligence that said he was a threat. But as
importantly, I remembered his history. He was a sworn enemy of the
United States of America. We had been to war with him once before. He
was shooting at our pilots who were enforcing the world's sanctions.
He had harbored terrorists. Remember Abu Nidal? He killed Leon
Klinghoffer. Abu Nidal and his organization was in Iraq. Zarqawi,
he's still lingering around. He had an organization. He's got ties to
al Qaeda. He's The guy who beheads people to shake our conscience. He
was in and out of Baghdad. Saddam Hussein paid the families of
suiciders

Now, he was a threat. I went to the Congress and I said, the world
has changed. And they looked at the -- they agreed. They looked at
the intelligence I looked at. They remembered his history. And they
concluded, members of the Congress from both political parties,
concluded that Saddam Hussein was a threat, and they authorized the use
of force. My opponent, he looked at the very same intelligence my
administration looked at. And he voted "yes" when it came time to
authorize the use of force. I went to the United Nations -- and I'll
tell you why I went to the U.N., because I believe before a
Commander-in-Chief commits troops into harm's way, we must try all
avenues, all avenues to solve a problem. I understand the grave
decision of sending men and women into harm's way. It's a decision I
wish I hadn't had to make as your President. It's a decision, however,
that came to my desk because of the actions of an enemy.

And so I went to the United Nations in the hopes that we could
solve this problem diplomatically. And so I gave a speech, I remember,
there talking about the threat, reminding people of the world that we
lived in after September the 11th. And the United Nations looked at
the same intelligence I looked at and remembered the same history, and
voted 15 to nothing to send this message to Saddam Hussein: You disarm
-- or disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences. Now, I believe
when you say something, you better mean it in order to make the world a
more free and peaceful place. That's what I think. I think when you
say something, in order to -- (applause.) If you're going to vote to
authorize force, you better mean it. If you're going to say, "serious
consequences," you better mean it.

But Saddam Hussein ignored the demands of the free world once
again. People say, well, you didn't try diplomacy. Diplomacy had been
tried for a decade. This was a confirmation that he wasn't interested
in complying with the demands of the free world. I think there was,
what, 17 U.N. resolutions? Something like that. A lot. Like,
resolution after resolution after resolution. And he wasn't interested
in complying. One reason we knew is because he systematically deceived
the inspectors.

And so I have a choice to make at this point: Do I forget the
lessons of September the 11th, take the word of a madman -- or take
action to defend this country? Given that choice, I will defend
America every time. (Applause.)

Thank you. A couple other points.

It's hard work in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know that, and I want to
thank the family members who are here who -- if you've got a loved one
in the military, I want to thank you for the sacrifices you've made and
the sacrifices your son, daughter, husband, or wife have made on behalf
of this country. It's not easy to help a country. There are people
around this world that want to stop the march of freedom because they
see it as the biggest threat to their ideology of hate. That's the
fact.

A lesson I've learned, and a lesson that -- it wasn't hard for me
to learn it, either -- was that any time you put troops into harm's
way, the federal government needs to support them so they can finish
their mission. (Applause.) That's why -- that's why a year ago, I
went to the Congress and proposed $87 billion of supplemental funding
to make sure Marines, like this man right here, have got what it takes
to do the job.

And we got great support in Congress. You might remember that,
Pete, about how members of both parties stood up and recognized the
need for us to support troops in harm's way. As a matter of fact, the
support was so strong that only 12 members of the United States Senate
voted against essential funding for our troops -- only 12 -- two of
whom were my opponent and his running mate, were part of those 12.

Interestingly enough, when you're out gathering the vote, you might
remind people that there was only four members of the United States
Senate that voted to authorize the use of force and then didn't vote to
fund the troops. And two of those four were my opponent and his
running mate. You might remember, when asked to explain why he made
the vote he made, he said, I actually did vote for the $87 billion,
right before I voted against it. (Laughter.) See, I think a President
needs to speak clearly and mean what he says. So they kept pressing
him. He finally said, the whole thing is a complicated matter.
There's nothing complicated about supporting our troops in combat.
(Applause.)

A couple other things I want to share with you -- a couple of other
things then we've got to move on down the road in the bus. (Laughter.)
It's a bus tour. (Laughter.) It's exciting to go on a bus tour,
because a lot of people come out and they want to wave, and it warms my
heart to see many people lining the roads like -- that's what happens
on these trips.

Let me tell you a couple of other things. One, people say, what's
the mission? The mission is, in Afghanistan and Iraq, to help those
countries become free countries, is to help on the road to democracy,
is to help the political process go forward. Remember, Iraq is going
to be having elections in January. They've got a tough Prime
Minister. I like him, Allawi. He's a strong guy. He's they guy that,
by the way, survived an assassination attempt by Saddam Hussein. The
guy sent the people in to -- he was living in London at the time --
they sent a ax-wielding thug to try to chop him to pieces. And he
survived it. Seriously. So he understands. He understands the
tyrant.

He believes in the aspirations of the people. He wants there to be
elections. He knows that Iraq can handle democracy. It's what he
believes in his soul. I believe we ought to help him get there. When
we give our word, we need to keep our word. In order to make the world
a more peaceful place, when you say something, you better mean it. And
we've told the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, we'll help them. We will
stay the course so that they can develop an army and police force of
their own so they can defend themselves. That's what we're doing.
We're providing stability for a political process to go forward, and
we're training troops so they can do the hard work, so they can step
up, so they can help the reconstruction efforts go forward. It's
precisely what we're doing. And we're going to get -- get the job done
as quickly as possible, and then our troops will come home with the
honor they've earned. And the world will be better off. I believe
liberty can transform the world. (Applause.)

Listen, we all want peace. And I believe it's going to happen,
that our children and grandchildren will grow up in a peaceful world,
that we will make America secure by staying on the offense. But in the
long-run, our security comes from spreading liberty.

You know, I tell people that one of my favorite leaders in the
world is Prime Minister Koizumi, of Japan. I want you to think about
this here for a minute. You know, I sit down at a table with them, and
have dinner, and we have really interesting, meaningful discussions
about peace. What's unusual about that conversation is that 60 years
ago, or so, my dad and your dads and husbands and grandfathers were at
war with the Japanese. They were a sworn enemy of America. Thousands
lost their life because of the Japanese. Fortunately, Harry Truman
believed in the power of liberty to transform societies, and so did a
lot of other Americans. There was a lot of skeptics, and you can
understand why there was skepticism after World War II. If your loved
one had been over fighting and had lost a life, how could you possibly
imagine that a sworn enemy could become a friend?

But because our predecessors believed in the power of liberty -- I
mean, predecessors for citizens and elected officials -- to transform
an enemy into a friend, today, Japan is a friend.

We did the hard work after World War II of helping Japan go toward
a democracy. Not an American democracy, but a Japanese democracy. And
today, I sit down at a table with Prime Minister Koizumi talking about
the peace, talking about how to deal with the tyrant in North Korea.
By the way, it is now five voices reminding him that he needs to
disarm, including China, as opposed to one voice reminding him.
(Applause.)

I talked to -- I talked to Prime Minister Koizumi about how liberty
can transform Iraq and Afghanistan to become allies in the war on
terror. I talked to a head of a country that we were at war with about
how free societies will serve as powerful examples for women who want
to be free in the Middle East or for reformers who wonder whether or
not the free world hears their calls for help. I talked to him about
feeding the hungry.

I believe to whom much has been given, much is required. I believe
this United States of America must use our great wealth and generosity
to help those who are hungry in the world. I believe we ought to
continue to lead the effort to help orphans whose lives have been
changed because of the pandemic of HIV/AIDS on the continent of
Africa. I believe we not only need to write checks, I believe we need
to unleash the great faith-based programs of America to help those who
suffer. (Applause.)

I believe all these things. And of course, we'll continue to
provide medicines, and help, and infrastructure to help save lives. I
believe all this because the actions we take will mean that a
generation of young Americans can grow up in a better world. The enemy
attacked us. We didn't ask for this attack. They attacked us. But
out of this attack, because of U.S. leadership, because we've got great
values, because of our resolve, because of a clear vision of a better
world, out of that attack is going to come some incredible good, in my
judgment: a safer America, a more peaceful world, a better life.

And that's why I'm asking for the vote for four more years. I know
where I want to lead us. I have the energy and desire to do so. And
I'm not afraid to ask for your help.